Amnesty International denounced on Friday Turkey's decision to transfer the case of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who has been killed in Istanbul, to Saudi Arabia.

“Today is a dark day for those who have spent more than three years campaigning for justice for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi," said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary-General, in a statement on April 1.

“By transferring the case of a murder that was committed on its territory, Turkey will be knowingly and willingly sending the case back into hands of those who bare its responsibility. Indeed, the Saudi system has repeatedly failed to cooperate with the Turkish prosecutor and it is clear that justice cannot be delivered by a Saudi court," she added.

Amnesty International seemed concerned about the judicial system in Saudi Arabia, which lacks independence, transparency and fairness.

Read more: The Guardian: Khashoggi killers live in luxury villas in Riyadh

In this context, Callamard said, “Should the government indeed recommend the suspension of the prosecution, this would guarantee impunity – the opposite of justice for Jamal."

Callamard investigated the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018 as the United Nations Human Rights Council (UN) rapporteur on extrajudicial killings. Her report urged that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MbS), designated by the CIA as the sponsor of this assassination, be placed under sanctions.

Callamard had urged to deal seriously with a death threat she had received from a Saudi official in light of the investigations into Jamal Khashoggi's murder.

Turkey prosecutor asks court to transfer Khashoggi case to Saudi Arabia

A Turkish prosecutor asked an Istanbul court to dismiss a case into the murder of Riyadh critic Jamal Khashoggi and transfer it to Saudi Arabia, local media reported on Thursday.

The development comes as Turkey is seeking a defrost in relations with Saudi Arabia, which worsened after the 2018 killing of Khashoggi - a contributor to The Washington Post - inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The prosecutor said during the hearing in Istanbul on Thursday that the case "has been dragging because the court orders cannot be executed on the grounds that the suspects are foreign nationals", the private DHA news agency reported.

The court is expected to approve the justice ministry's request to transfer the case to Saudi Arabia, the news agency added. 

On October 2, 2018, Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to file paperwork to marry his Turkish fiancee. According to US and Turkish officials, a Saudi hit squad strangled him and dismembered his body, which has never been retrieved.

The murder sparked international outrage that continues to reverberate, with Western intelligence agencies accusing MbS of authorizing the killing.